Rosalie Colie's Paradoxia Epidemica
According to the Random House College Dictionary, a paradox is defined as 1) a
statement or proposition seemingly self-contradictory or absurd, but in reality expressing
a possible truth; 2) any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory
nature. Writer Rosalie Colie in "Paradoxia Epidemica" states: "The one element
common to all paradox is their exploitation of the fact of relative or competing value
systems. The paradox is always somehow involved in challenging some orthodoxy.
The paradox is oblique criticism of absolute judgment or absolute convention."
This reading is one of my all time favorites. I've received it numerous times via
email and each time I read it, it makes …show more content…
I used to read a book a night. Now, unless I'm
reading for one of my classes, I hardly ever read but I do find time to watch plenty of
junk on the television. I did make a New Year's resolution to start each day off with
prayer. I haven't kept that promise on a daily basis but I do pray much more than
I used too. I pray most mornings but not every morning as I resolved to do.
I believe a large part of the lifestyle we've chosen stems from the fact that we lack
contentment. I once heard a story about a man who overheard his servant remarking in
the kitchen that if she only had five pounds she would be perfectly content. Pondering her
statement he decided he would like to see someone who was perfectly content, so he went
to the woman and told her he had overheard what she'd said in the kitchen, and he wanted
to do something about it. He gave her a five pound note for which she thanked him very
gratefully. He went out the door of the kitchen, and paused there unknown to her, and as
soon as the servant thought he had gone she complained: "Why on earth didn't I ask for
10 pounds"? I believe a lack of contentment is exactly why Carlin writes:
statement or proposition seemingly self-contradictory or absurd, but in reality expressing
a possible truth; 2) any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory
nature. Writer Rosalie Colie in "Paradoxia Epidemica" states: "The one element
common to all paradox is their exploitation of the fact of relative or competing value
systems. The paradox is always somehow involved in challenging some orthodoxy.
The paradox is oblique criticism of absolute judgment or absolute convention."
This reading is one of my all time favorites. I've received it numerous times via
email and each time I read it, it makes …show more content…
I used to read a book a night. Now, unless I'm
reading for one of my classes, I hardly ever read but I do find time to watch plenty of
junk on the television. I did make a New Year's resolution to start each day off with
prayer. I haven't kept that promise on a daily basis but I do pray much more than
I used too. I pray most mornings but not every morning as I resolved to do.
I believe a large part of the lifestyle we've chosen stems from the fact that we lack
contentment. I once heard a story about a man who overheard his servant remarking in
the kitchen that if she only had five pounds she would be perfectly content. Pondering her
statement he decided he would like to see someone who was perfectly content, so he went
to the woman and told her he had overheard what she'd said in the kitchen, and he wanted
to do something about it. He gave her a five pound note for which she thanked him very
gratefully. He went out the door of the kitchen, and paused there unknown to her, and as
soon as the servant thought he had gone she complained: "Why on earth didn't I ask for
10 pounds"? I believe a lack of contentment is exactly why Carlin writes: